David McKee 1935-2022

Image Source: Book Trust - read this long interview with David McKee

David McKee 2 January 1935 – 6 April 2022

I was so sad to read this morning that David McKee had died. I have talked about him previously on this blog when he was nominated for the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award.

I loved sharing the Elmer books with my Kindergarten library groups for over thirty years. 

My copy of Elmer, which I picked up at a charity book sale, has a drawing of Elmer by David McKee and a signature dated 1998. At the same sale I found Elmer on Stilts (one of my favourite Elmer books) and Elmer again. I have a Pinterest of ideas for using Elmer. Elmer has his own web page. Elmer Day is 28th May, 2022. Elmer was first published in 1968. There are over 45 Elmer books. Elmer and the Stranger contains a kangaroo! 

Book 1: Elmer (1968)

Book 2: Elmer Again (1991)

Book 3: Elmer on Stilts (1993)

Book 4: Elmer and Wilbur (1994)

Book 5: Elmer’s Colours (1994)

Book 6: Elmer’s Day (1994)

Book 7: Elmer’s Friends (1994)

Book 8: Elmer’s Weather (1994)

Book 9: Elmer in the Snow (1995)

Book 10: The Elmer Pop-Up Book  (1996)

Book 11: Elmer and the Wind (1997)

Book 12: Elmer's Hide and Seek (1997)

Book 13: Elmer and the Lost Teddy (1999)

Book 14: Elmer and the Stranger (2000)

Book 15: Look! There’s Elmer (2000)

Book 16: My First Elmer Joke Book (2000)

Book 17: Elmer and Grandpa Eldo (2001)

Book 18: Elmer’s Concert (2001)

Book 19: Elmer and the Butterfly (2002)

Book 20: Elmer’s New Friend (2002)

Book 21: Elmer and the Hippos (2003)

Book 22: Elmer’s Jigsaw Book (2003)

Book 23: Elmer and Snake (2004)

Book 24: Elmer and Rose (2005)

Book 25: Elmer and Aunt Zelda (2006)

Book 26: Elmer’s Baby Record Book (2006)

Book 27: Elmer and Friends Sticker Storybook (2006)

Book 28: Elmer and Friends First Colouring Activity Book (2006)

Book 29: Elmer and the Rainbow (2007)

Book 30: Elmer’s First Counting Book (2007)

Book 31: Elmer’s Opposites (2007)

Book 32: Elmer and the Big Bird (2008)

Book 33: Elmer’s Special Day (2009)

Book 34: Elmer and Papa Red (2010)

Book 35: Elmer and Super El (2011)

Book 36: Elmer, Rose and Super El (2012)

Book 37: Elmer and the Whales (2013)

Book 38: Elmer and the Monster (2014)

Book 39: Elmer's Parade (2015)

Book 40: Elmer’s Christmas (2015)

Book 41: Elmer and the Race (2016)

Book 42: Elmer and the Flood (2016)

Book 43: Elmer and the Tune (2017)

Book 44: Elmer’s Walk (2018)

Book 45: My First Elmer: Shaped Board Book (2018)

Book 46: Elmer’s Birthday (2019)

Book 47: Elmer’s Search and Find (2019)

Book 48: Elmer’s Shapes: A Touch and Trace Book (2020)

Book 49: Elmer Opposites (2020)

Book 50: Elmer and the Lost Treasure (2020)

Book 51: Elmer and the Bedtime Story (2021)

Morals and life lessons are not what attract younger readers (or many older ones, for that matter) and what really stands out in the Elmer books is an engaging story shown through characters who are cheerful, kindly and funny in their own right. Add to that an exuberance of colour and form, and the formula is faultless. Book Bag

Elmer's an incredibly popular character for good reason. He's sweet, caring, different and exciting. The storytelling is great too, with a neatly unfolding plot, an amusing concept, lots of problem-solving, and heart by the bucketload. The writing is direct, with a clear and open vocabulary, but it never feels simplistic. Everything about it is top quality, and will strike a chord with all young book fans. Book Bag

Other books by David McKee

One of my favourite memories of sharing David McKee's books in my library is the reference is Sorry Miss Folio. The little boy in this funny book borrows a library book in December and he keeps it for the whole year and the book is King Rollo by David McKee. There are in fact fifteen King Rollo books plus board books and four compilation volumes.

David McKee also illustrated some small format Paddington books. Another book I treasured in my previous library was the poetry anthology Out of the Blue by Hiawyn Oram illustrated by David McKee. We also had My First Elmer Joke book and a tiny book called The Two Admirals (Puffin Books). I have also just discovered Super Gran (2016).